Xiufeng Li1, 2, Jeffrey S. Spence3, 4, David M. Buhner4, Robert W. Haley4, Richard W. Briggs2, 4
1Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; 2Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 3Clinical Sciences, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 4Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
New ASL hippocampus perfusion study results of Gulf War veterans recruited from a representative national sample of over 8,000 veterans corroborate previous SPECT and ASL results of Gulf War veterans selected from the 24th U.S. Naval Reserve Mobile Construction Battalion that show chronic and perhaps progressive hippocampal perfusion dysfunction both at baseline and in response to challenge with the short-acting, reversible cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine. The ASL physostigmine challenge test is a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of Gulf War illness and is practical enough to be implemented diagnostically in a clinical setting.